Railway transfer-ticket.



F. W. WERNER & H. C. KENDLL.

RAILWAY TRANSFER TICKET.

AT'PLTCATTON FILED JUNEzl. 1917.

1,29%;735. Patented Feb. 1S, 1919.

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, *UNTED STATES PATENT @Fhf@m FREDERICK W. WERNER AND HARRY C. KENDALL, OF DENVER, COLORADO; SAID WERNER ASSIGNOR T0 SAID KENDALL.

RAILWAY TRANSFER-TICKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

` Application ined June 21, 1917. serial No. 176,093.

`of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to railroad tickets and` more particularly to improvements in tickets of the type used on street railways to entitle passengers to transportation over i `for any particular period 'without the poslines connecting with that on which the tickets were issued by the conductor upon receipt of the required fares.v

Thesev tickets, commonly known as transfers or transfer-tickets, bear upontheir face in addition to the necessary printed matterA relating to the line or lines upon which they are valid, the hours of issuance or expiration and other information relative to their use and value, the period of time during which they may be tendered in lieu of a cash-fare on a designated line or lines.

It has heretofore been customary to designate the day and date of issuance or expiration upon the face of the tickets by printing a row of numbers to represent the days of the month, and a list giving the names of the months in their convenient orde-r. The conductor before issuing the transfer, punches the month and day upon which the transaction takes place, and in some cases also punches a separate inscription which designatesby the letters A. M. or P. M. the time of the day with respect to the meridian.

vTransfer tickets of this description are sometimes modifiedV by printing thereon the number of the particular day with or without the name of the particular month during which they are used.

Principal among the objections to the use of transfer-tickets of the above described character are- First. The waste of time and liability to error connected with punching the desigiiated day and`mont'h, even though this is done in theoiice of the railway company, as' is' often resorted to to save the time of the conductors and thereby expeditetravel.-

Second.` The waste of unused material which naturally occurs when a quantity of tickets are printed or otherwise designated sibility of foretelling 4the number to be issued during said period, t

Third. The impossibility of effectively guarding against fraudulent use of tickets by. either passengers or employees of the railway, and

Fourth. The time wasted and errors unwillingly ,made by conductors to whom the tickets are tendered, in deciphering,`by reading the printed names and numbers or other designations, the date and period of the day on and during which the transfer was issued. v

It is the object of the present invention" to eliminate any and all of the above enumerated objectionable features, by providing a transfer which in unmistakable symbols designates a predetermined period during which it may be used, without the use of numbers or words which inform the passengers of the date or period of its validity. and without `the necessity of indicating the same -by "punching or other mutilation of the tickets.

It is another object of the invention to lpositively prevent the waste of unused material, experienced in any one of the systems above referred to, by designating the period of validity of the tickets in such a manner that they may be used unaltered on different days without sacrificing any of the characteristics which render them proof against fraudulent use, and still another object of the invention isto provide a transfer with matter limiting the period of its validity, which is at a glance recognized by the conductor, and thereby obviates the scrutiny required of the conductors in accepting transfers of the kind at present in common use. j

The above and other objects, all of which `will fully appear in the course of the following description, we attain by placing upon the face of the transfer bv' printing, stamping, puncturing or any other suitable method, a symbol of arbitrary design to de- Vsignate by characters or marks different `from those ordinarily used for this purpose,

character or arrangement and they7 are not' divulgedvto the public or the employees of the railway company until the beginning of the period during which the tickets are to be used, thereby frustrating fraudulent use, since no one with the exception of the oiiicial intrusted with lthe selection of the symbol for each particular `period of time, knows what particulai marks or combinations of marks are to be used on following days or Y thereof as a safe and simple medium to prevent` fraudulent use of ythe tickets upon which it is used, waste by the loss of unused tickets bearing designations for their issuance on specified dates, is completely avoided and the arbitrary, periodically changed character of the symbols, renders punching or, other methods of designation unnecessary.

`Without desiring to be limited to the use of any ,particular system of symbols, we preferably use o'n each ticket a symbol composed of two or more characters or other marks which being interchangeable, may be arranged to present a large number of combinations.

The symbol may be accompanied by characters designating the period of the day duringwhich the ticketsbearing them are valid,

o r the symbols may 'themselves designate the periods by either different colors, shadings or other differentiating' characteristics, it being understood that it is desirable to use the same symbol during an entire day and distinguish the periods of the day before and after the meridian by any of the means above referred to.

In the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are simi- 'larly designated,

Figures l and 2 show tickets according to o ur invention hereinbefore referred to, one being designed for use in the fo'renoo'n of the day designated by the symbol, and the vother during the afternoon of the same day,

1 and Fig. 3 shows a.. fragmentary face view of a ticket illustrating the use of a symbol different from those shown in the other i views.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the reference character 2 designates a transfer ticket having printed upon its face ofthe day and fractions thereof,I which. in

the use of the ticket are punched .upon their issuance to designate the time of its expiration.

The ticket als@ iras a space 4 -givng the number of the route on which it is issued, and below the same, a list 5 of lines upon which it is acceptable, the particular lineV Vuse under different circumstances and conditions. y

It will be observed that the ticket bears neither naines norrnumbers to designate in the conventional manner the period during which it is valid. Instead of these usual designations, it bears in the space designated 'by the reference numeral 8, a symbol 9 preferably composed of an arbitrary combination of arbitrary marks which individually are non-significant (in the example shown in the drawings, the characters H and A.) and which are printedin type sufficiently bold and large that they may be seen at a glance and without scrutiny ofthe ticket.

The symbols on the ticket shown in Fig. l are printed in one color to indicate that the ticket may be usedonly during a certain period of the day, as for example the forenoon. `and the symbol on the ticket shown in Fig. 2 has been printed in another, contrasting color to show its validity during 'the post meridian period Vof the same day.

ln the use of transfer tickets made in accordance with our invention the conductors are apprised only at the time they commence their duties for the day, of the symbol to be used on the transfer tickets during that day, -to distinguish `them from transfers to be used during other days of the month or year.

When receiving transfer-tickets issued on other lines, the conductors can detect their validity ata glance. ,f

The tickets are not punched or otherwise multilated except at thetime they yare issued, and then only 'to indicate the hour of eX- piration andthe line upony which they may be used so that at the end of the `day the conductor` can return the unused tickets to the ofiice from w'hichthey were supplied, in a condition suitable for, use on another day.

Fraudulent use of .the tickets by either passengers or conductors is; completely avoided andthe Waste *ordinarily caused' by quantities of left-over tickets good only on a certa-in designated date, is eliminated. acojlumn 3 Vin which areaaranged the'h'ours use o'f transfer tickets ni'ade in accordance with our invention requires the provision of comparatively few different kinds, inasmuch as the use of a limited number of marks in combination of two or more, is sufficient to effectively guard against the fraudulent use of the tickets as often prac tised by unscrupulous passengers or dishon est employees.

In Fig. 3 of the drawings the symbol 9 consists of the pictorial representation of a flag as an example of the use of symbols other than those composed of--combinations of characters as hereinbefore described.

It will be understood that while transfers bearing a particular validating symbol of the character herein described are usually issued for only one day or any determinate part thereof, they may be effectively used during two or more consecutive days or any other predetermined period of time.

Having thus described our invention what we claim and desire to secure #by Letters- Patent is:

l. A transfer ticket for issuance to or from public conveyances, comprising a slip which bears upon its face, matter constituting it a valid medium for the transference of passengers from one carline to another, and in nonseparable relation to said matter, a distinctive symbol composed of one or more arbitrary characters, which signifies without other designation, a predetermined period of its validity.

2. A transfer-ticket for issuance to or from public conveyances, comprising a slip which bears upon its face matter constituting it a valid medium for the transference of passengers from one carline to another, and in nonseparable relation to said matter, a distinctive symbol composed of two or more arbitrary characters which, in combination, signify without other designation, a predetermined period of its validity.

3. A transfer-ticket for issuance to or from public conveyances, comprising a slip which bears upon its face, matter constituting it a valid medium for the transference of passengers from one carline to another,

and in nonseparable relation to said matter, a distinctive symbol composed of one or more arbitrary characters, which signifies without other designation a determinate day of a determinate month.

4. A transfer-ticket for issuance to or from public conveyances, comprising a slip which bears upon its face, matter constituting it a valid. medium for the transference of passengers from one carline to another, and in nonseparable relation to said matter, a distinctive symbol composed of one or more arbitrary characters, which signifies without other designation, a determinate part of a determinate day of a determinate month.

5. A transfer-ticket for issuance to or from public conveyances, comprising a slip which bears upon its face matter constituting it a valid medium for the transference of passengers from one carline to another, and in nonseparable relation to said matter, a distinctive symbol composed of one or more arbitrary characters, which signifies without other designation, a determinate day of a determinate month, and which has an additional characteristic which designates a determinate period of said day.

6. A transfer-ticket for issuance to or from public conveyances, comprising a slip which bears upon its face matter constituting it a valid medium for the transference of passengers from one carline to another and in nonseparable relation to said matter, a distinctive symbol composed of one or morearbitrary characters, which signifies without other designation, a determinate day of a determinate month, and which has a distinguishing color which designates a determinate period of said day.

In testimony whereof we have affixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK W. WERNER. HARRY C. KENDALL.

Witnesses:

G. J. ROLLANDET, L. RHoADEs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

